Pilot seat assembly with integrated rest position

Abstract

A pilot seat assembly includes a track, a support base, a seat pan, and a seat. The track is mounted on a floor of a vehicle and defines a travel path from a forward end of the track to an aft end of the track. The support base is coupled to the track and is selectively moveable along the travel path. The seat pan is mounted to the support base and is selectively movable in an outboard direction and an inboard direction relative to the support base. The seat is mounted on the seat pan such that the seat pan is between the seat and the support base. A seat back section of the seat is selectively reclinable relative to a seat bottom section of the seat to transition the pilot seat assembly between a control position and a rest position.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A pilot seat assembly comprising:
 a track mounted on a floor within a flight deck of an aircraft and defining a travel path from a forward end of the track to an aft end of the track, wherein the track is oriented so the aft end of the track is located between the forward end of the track and a tail section of the aircraft;   a support base coupled to the track and selectively moveable along the travel path;   a seat pan mounted to the support base and selectively movable in an outboard direction and an inboard direction relative to the support base, wherein the outboard direction and the inboard direction are transverse to the travel path defined by the track;   a seat mounted on the seat pan such that the seat pan is between the seat and the support base, wherein the seat includes a seat bottom section and a seat back section, and wherein the seat back section is selectively reclinable relative to the seat bottom section; and   an adjustment mechanism including a control device and one or more actuators, wherein, in response to receiving a first user input signal while the pilot seat assembly is in a control position, the control device transitions the pilot seat assembly from the control position to a rest position by controlling the one or more actuators to both (i) move the support base at least 15 inches toward the aft end of the track and (ii) recline the seat back section of the seat relative to the seat bottom section.   
     
     
         2 . The pilot seat assembly of  claim 1 , wherein, in response to receiving a second user input signal while the pilot seat assembly is in the rest position, the control device transitions the pilot seat assembly to the control position by controlling the one or more actuators to both (iii) move the support base toward the forward end of the track and (iv) lift the seat back section of the seat relative to the seat bottom section to attain a more upright orientation of the seat than in the rest position. 
     
     
         3 . The pilot seat assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising an input device communicatively connected to the control device and actuatable to communicate the first user input signal to the control device. 
     
     
         4 . The pilot seat assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the seat back section in the rest position is oriented at least 40 degrees relative to an upward vertical direction. 
     
     
         5 . The pilot seat assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the control device is configured to control the one or more actuators to move the support base at least 20 inches towards the aft end of the track during the transition from the control position to the rest position. 
     
     
         6 . The pilot seat assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the track is a straight track, and wherein the travel path is a linear travel path. 
     
     
         7 . The pilot seat assembly of  claim 6 , wherein the linear travel path is oriented parallel to a longitudinal axis of the aircraft. 
     
     
         8 . The pilot seat assembly of  claim 6 , wherein the support base is restricted to movement along the linear travel path. 
     
     
         9 . The pilot seat assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the track includes multiple parallel channels, and the support base includes multiple brackets that extend into different corresponding channels of the parallel channels of the track, wherein the brackets slide within the parallel channels as the support base is moved along the linear travel path. 
     
     
         10 . The pilot seat assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a lower leg support structure selectively movable from a stowed position while the seat is in the control position to a deployed position while the seat is in the rest position. 
     
     
         11 . An aircraft comprising:
 a pilot seat assembly within a flight deck of the aircraft, wherein the pilot seat assembly comprises:
 a track mounted on a floor of the flight deck and defining a linear travel path from a forward end of the track to an aft end of the track, wherein the linear travel path is oriented parallel to a longitudinal axis of a fuselage of the aircraft; 
 a support base coupled to the track and selectively moveable along the linear travel path; 
 a seat pan mounted to the support base and selectively movable in an outboard direction and an inboard direction relative to the support base, wherein the outboard direction and the inboard direction are transverse to the linear travel path defined by the track; 
 a seat mounted on the seat pan such that the seat pan is between the seat and the support base, wherein the seat includes a seat bottom section and a seat back section; and 
 an input device, wherein, in response to being actuated by a user, the input device triggers actuators to both (i) recline the seat back section relative to the seat bottom section and (ii) slide the support base at least 15 inches toward the aft end of the track to transition the pilot seat assembly from a control position to a rest position. 
   
     
     
         12 . The aircraft of  claim 11 , wherein the seat back section in the rest position is oriented at least 40 degrees relative to an upward vertical direction. 
     
     
         13 . The aircraft of  claim 11 , wherein the input device triggers the actuators to slide the support base at least 20 inches along the linear travel path toward the aft end of the track during the transition to the rest position. 
     
     
         14 . The aircraft of  claim 11 , wherein the support base is restricted to movement along the linear travel path. 
     
     
         15 . The pilot seat assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the control device controls the one or more actuators to concurrently (i) move the support base towards the aft end of the track and (ii) recline the seat back section of the seat, to transition the pilot seat assembly to the rest position. 
     
     
         16 . The pilot seat assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the control device controls the one or more actuators to sequentially (i) move the support base towards the aft end of the track and (ii) recline the seat back section of the seat, to transition the pilot seat assembly to the rest position. 
     
     
         17 . The aircraft of  claim 11 , further comprising a control device communicatively connected to the input device,
 wherein, in response to receiving a user input signal generated by the input device while the pilot seat assembly is in the control position, the control device controls the actuators to both (i) move the support base toward the aft end of the track and (ii) recline the seat back section of the seat relative to the seat bottom section.   
     
     
         18 . A pilot seat assembly comprising:
 a track mounted on a floor of a flight deck of an aircraft and defining a travel path from a forward end of the track to an aft end of the track;   a support base coupled to the track and selectively moveable along the travel path;   a seat pan mounted to the support base;   a seat mounted on the seat pan, the seat including a seat bottom section and a seat back section, the seat back section selectively reclinable relative to the seat bottom section;   a first locking mechanism that secures the support base in a fixed position relative to the track;   a second locking mechanism that secures the seat back section of the seat in a fixed position relative to the seat bottom section; and   an input device that is selectively actuatable by a user on the seat to release both the first locking mechanism and the second locking mechanism to enable the pilot seat assembly to transition from a control position to a rest position by enabling the user to slide the support base toward the aft end of the track and recline the seat back section relative to the seat bottom section.   
     
     
         19 . The pilot seat assembly of  claim 18 , wherein the input device is a lever. 
     
     
         20 . The aircraft of  claim 11 , wherein the track includes multiple parallel channels, and the support base includes multiple brackets that extend into different corresponding channels of the parallel channels of the track, wherein the brackets slide within the parallel channels as the support base is moved along the linear travel path.